Released in 1998 the Coen brothers film The Big Lebowski
introduces us to
characters that are stuck
in the 70's and who are unable or unwilling to adapt to the 90's. The
story continues with a focal backdrop of the unique community that has
fashioned itself around the American pastime
of... bowling. The Coens also found time in the films 118 minutes to pay
homage to past film genre's including westerns and Busby Berkley musicals.

Plot: Jeff Lebowski
prefers to be known as 'The
Dude' and is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski by a pair of thugs
seeking money from his namesakes wife, Bunny. After assaulting 'The
Dude', one of these ne'er-do-wells takes the
opportunity to urinate on his rug. In seeking reparation he is
thrust into a kidnapping plot of the said young trophy wife to extort
money from the wheelchair-bound husband, Jeffrey Lebowski. Along the
journey, proliferated with cultural referencing,
we meet 'The Dude's' friends, his recreational environment as well
as some eccentric new characters. We
learn about him and his attitude which helps define his liberal and
permissive lifestyle.

Notables: has written checks to Ralph's grocery store for as little
as $0.69 .

Also
responds to "His Dudeness", or uh, "Duder", or
"El Duderino" (if you're not into the whole brevity thing.)

Listens
to 1987 Bowling league playoffs on cassette tape while sitting on his
rug (the one that "ties the whole room together").

Quotes
about 'The Dude':

"Quite
possibly the laziest
person in L.A. County... which would put him high in the running for laziest
worldwide."

Archetypal Family

Within
the bowling venue we have a slight derivation of the archetypal
family with "The Dude" as the understanding mother, Ex-Vietnam
vet and security store owner Walter Sobchak as a violent, stifling father and
Donny as the inquisitive child prodigy, who it would appear, would not
be their friend if not for his bowling prowess. Another character
appears quite colorfully on the scene; Jesus Quintana. Sporting a
vibrant purple jumpsuit and spouting off arrogant bowling bravado, Jesus
would certainly be considered the 'child clown' of the family.
United only by their bowling, it would seem that their inherent strong points are there lack of judgment
on each other for incompatibility. This sympathy or indulgence for
beliefs or practices differing with one's own is quite endearing as well
as promoting a subtle moral and societal message.

'The
Dude's' Phraseology Repetition

'The Dude' is an adept mimic as he uses phrases of
others shortly after in conversations with different
individuals.

On
the TV in Ralph's Grocery Store:

President George Bush Sr.: "This
aggression against Kuwait will not stand."

Jeffrey
Lebowski: "Now if you don't mind..."

'The
Dude': "No... I do mind! 'The Dude' minds! This will not
stand... you
know. This
aggression will not stand man!"

Maude:
"...'banging' Jackie Treehorn, to use theparlance of our times..."

A
little while later talking to Mr. Jeffrey Lebowski in his limo, 'The
Dude' repeats: "...a young trophy wife, to use the
parlance of our times..."

Character
Eccentricity

The activities
onscreen are as diverse as the telltale eccentricities of each character
presented us. Not unlike the variety of music chosen for the film (From The
Sons of the Pioneers" Tumbling Tumbleweeds" to "The Man in
Me" by Bob Dylan) every character only serves to compliment another
by their deviant lack of uniformity.

Jesus -
previously convicted pedophile who has created his own persona in the
bowling alley. He is 'The Dude's' bowling teams nemesis in the upcoming league
playoff match.

Dude's
landlord Monty performing his dance quintet.

Arthur Digby Sellers (in
an iron lung): wrote 157 episodes of the
television show "Branded" (the bulk of the series). His son is
suspected in the theft of the (non-existent) Lebowski ransom cash.

Preying heavily on 'The Dudes' mind is the continuous
mention of his castration by the nihilist thugs. Once again we have a character who
is forced into an unpleasant idea or situation as 'The Dude' is with his
potential loss of manhood. Another prime example of this is the arrogant bowler
Jesus (John Turturro) who must inform all his Hollywood neighbors of his child
abuse charge and prison sentence. Perhaps this again harkens back to the
strong theme of "what it means to be a man". The dude remarks
that he hopes the Lebowski kills him before the nihilists "cut his
dick off". The impregnation of Maude is also a sign of this
masculinity theme. Here are four examples where the castration theme is
referenced:

'The
Dude' is confronted while in the tub by the nihilist thugs. They drop
their pet marmot which frantically swims around his groin. The group continually
threatens to cut off his "Johnson".

In
an openly sexual discussion upon first meeting Maude, we notice a
painting of a pair of scissors in the background. Maude relates euphemisms
for the word "penis".

'The
Dude's' Busby Berkley like dream sequences end in the German group of
nihilists (formerly "Autobahn") chasing him with giant
scissors preparing to make good on their threat.

While
in his car 'The Dude' drops his marijuana cigarette in his lap causing a
momentary panic to save his nether regions . This forces him to run his
car up onto the curb.

Anal Sex

With the "f" word used 267
times in the film it might go somewhat unnoticed that this assertive
statement "fuck you in the ass" be passed over as a common
phrase used "in the parlance of the time". However, in keeping
with the film's theme of defining perceived masculinity, I suggest that it was
quite intentional. With reverse symbology the connotation helps sub-reference and define yet another motif.
Here are three examples where it is used:

Upper
left, Walter: "...this is what happens Larry, when you fuck a
stranger in the ass."

Upper right, Nihilist: "...I fuck you in the
ass!"

Left, Jesus: "This bush league psyche-out
stuff. Laughable, man -- ha ha! I was gonna fuck you in the ass
Saturday. I fuck you in the ass next Wednesday instead."

Donny's Demise

Having
bowled nothing but strikes in every scene of the film that he hurls a
ball down the alley, Theodore Donald (aka 'Donny') helps foreshadow his own death with a wobbling final pin (and no
strike) in the frame just prior to leaving the bowling alley. In the
parking lot he meekly joins in the confrontation with the nihilists. Child-like he questions
patriarchal father Walter, "Are they going to hurt us" and
Walter responds uncharacteristically (from his usual "Shut the
fuck up Donny!") with, "No Donny, these men are cowards".
The actor playing Donny, Steve Buscemi has a character that dies in
nearly every Coen Brothers film in which he appears (Miller's Crossing,
Barton Fink, Fargo).

Note: The two times that we see Donny leave the comfort of the
bowling lanes he is confronted with violence. As he waits in the car at
the Sellers residence, Walter mistakenly provokes a neighbor who eventually attacks
'The Dude's' car with a baseball bat forcing Donny to flee.

As the deep-voiced cowboy narrator (played by Sam
Elliot) informs us in the end: "I guess that's the way the whole durned human comedy keeps
perpetuatin' itself."

The viewing experience is enjoyable on many
different levels and has a great re-watchability factor. I rate in out
of .

• The Dude's Life (10:07)
• The Dude Abides: The Big • Lebowski Ten Years Later (10:26)

• Production notes

• Theatrical trailer

Disc 2
• The Making of the Big Lebowski (24:35)
• Jeff Bridges Photography
• Flying Carpets & Bowling Pin Dreams: The Dream Sequences of The Dude
(4:19)
• The Lebowski Fest: An Achiever's Story
(13:54, edited from the original 'Achievers' documentary)
• Interactive Map
• Trailer for the Coens' new film Burn
After Reading

"This
won't stand Man, this DNR won't stand".
The Universal looks to have some egregious DNR - which displeases 'The Dude' to
no end. Even though the Universal is dual-layered it tends to look waxy and very
orange compared to the Italian 1080P. Both use the VC-1 but upon close
inspection the newer Universal is softer with a loss of detail and frequently
seems slightly cropped, possibly zoomed-in, beside the European Blu-ray.
Now the Cecchi Gori - Region 'B' does have more artefacts but purchasers will
have to weigh what they can live with in regards to the Universal transfer. I
think we have been accurate on most capture matches (off positively on at least
one) and if you download both 1080 resolution image files and toggle back and
forth you can see the issue. The DNR is frustrating. It does have bolder colors
and stronger black levels. I'm going to investigate this further and ask some
colleagues but this is a definite black-mark.

As for the audio- the new Universal sounds super via
a DTS-HD Master 5.1 at a robust 4104 kbps. It exceeds the Italian release
sounding having more depth and presence.
Perhaps a little more noticeable is the audio and all the great songs of the
film sound tighter and crisper (from Bob Dylan's "The Man In Me" to
Big Johnson's "Viva Las Vegas" and even the beloved Creedence).
The Universal Blu-ray
offers optional subtitles and it Region FREE.

The Universal is stacked with cool extras. Beyond
what was on the last 2-disc DVD the Blu-ray
is housed in a 'limited edition' collectible 28-pg book packaging including an
exclusive interview, Jeff Bridges’ on-set photography, a film timeline, trivia.
There is a digital copy available (with expires 12/31/2012) and three U-Control
features: Scene Companion – where you can watch behind the scenes
footage, interviews and more while you watch the film, secondly Mark It, Dude
– this on-screen counter keeps track of the “F-bombs,” “Dudes” and Lebowski-isms
during the film - and lastly The Music of The Big Lebowski (accessible
from the Set-up menu – identifies the songs in the film and create a custom
playlist. Fans might also enjoy the 10-minute featurette The Dude Abides: The
Big Lebowski Ten Years Later with the cast recalling the film production.

I must say that I am disappointed in the DNR - but
the rest of the disc (package, supplements and audio) are all outstanding. The
BD has value from that standpoint but those with discerning taste in the visual
portion of their Home theater presentation will be scratching their head.

***

ADDITION: Cecchi Gori - Region 'B' Blu-ray
- December 2010':

'The Dude' might prefer the shorter version of our comments here - so,
yes, the Italian Blu-ray
is better - it is VC-1 encoded and may have come from the previous
HD-DVD (one of the few prominent titles available on HD-DVD that have not yet come to
Region 'A' Blu-ray). While technically adept, (progressive, 3X the bitrate of the
last DVD etc.) is doesn't swell in visual quality - it has fewer
artifacts (still maintaining some), a shade of edge-enhancement from
some boosting, and it is grainer than I would have
anticipated. It is not a dramatic upgrade but the depth and detail both
improve. So do colors - marginally. How discerning you, or your system,
are will be the biggest factor in identifying the improvement.

Extras include 7-minutes of snippet
interviews with Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and the Coens
and 3 -minutes of behind-the-scenes shooting. despite the shortness this
is still interesting to fans of the film.

This is long overdue for region 'A' but I
still have no date in sight and who knows when another Blu-ray
of The Big Lebowski will come to region 'B' (unless there is a Scandinavian one I don't
know about). Impatient fans may wish to indulge - this is one film that
just continues to get better with age.

***

ADDITION: Anniversary Edition - September
08': Come one Universal! Triple dipping (if you include the HD
edition) is dicey territory but quadruple dipping (and eventually
centuple when the Blu-ray surfaces) can
be downright ignorant. But anyway, the DNR (or whatever created the
softness) of the Collector's Edition has been removed (or
greatly minimized). On the image front it's no contest with this new
Anniversary being the best bet of the three - and the screen
grabs below should corroborate that story.

Audio and subtitle options are the same
as the Collector's Edition.

Supplements: All the old extras are
included - Mortimer Young introduction, Production notes,
Theatrical trailer, the 25 minute, Making of the Big
Lebowski and the Jeff Bridges Photography album. But new
to this two disc are two ten minutes featurettes - The Dude's
Life and The Dude Abides: The Big Lebowski Ten Years Later
with input from cast and the director brothers. All good - and
interesting to finally hear some of them speak about the film. 4+
minutes on the surreal dream sequence of 'The Dude' lengthily
entitled Flying Carpets & Bowling Pin Dreams: The Dream Sequences
of The Dude, a clunky interactive map for the real geeks about
the film (I raise my hand), an edited bit on The Lebowski Fest:
An Achiever's Story - which can be very amusing and finally a
trailer for the Coens' new film Burn After Reading.

Bottom line is that with the HD player
in mothballs, this new Anniversary Edition is pretty sweet
with the cool supplements and the vastly improved SD image. At only
$14 it's a must-own for the many fans of the film - I'm ashamed to
say - 'yes, buy again' but I really feel it's worth it although I
suspect a Blu-ray within a year.

****

ON THE ORIGINAL vs. THE COLLECTOR
EDITION: There was a lot of artifacts in the
original NTSC edition of this DVD which made it quite distracting for
normal viewing. This was due to the fact that Universal put both Full
Screen and Widescreen edition of one side of a dual layered DVD -
hence the bitrate/s was unusually low. The new issue is certainly
smoother but also a bit softer in appearance. The new release has
faithfully maintained the 1.85 scope while the old anamorphized to
lose approx 4% at 1.78 (there is some noticeable cropping on the sides
of the first release and the bottom of the new one). Both are tight to
the frame maximizing horizontal resolution. Colors are different and
I feel that the new release colors are more accurate to the theatrical
presentation, than the old edition which looked a shade boosted. I do
suspect the new colors of being slightly washed possibly due to the
shifting of the pixels to remove the old artifacts?! - I don't know.
It is still not a perfect image transfer with
the haziness but I do
feel improved from the weak first edition. In the extras department
the new Collector's edition has a 5 minute introduction by a 'Mortimer
Young' of 'Forever Young Film Preservation' who gives some erroneous, but
fatuous background of
the film and its rescue from a Wilmington archive fire. This includes
a sample of re-dubbing from Italian. Both editions contain 24 minute
The Making of the Big Lebowski featurette. The new edition has
optional English, French and Spanish
subtitles, where the old only offered French and Spanish.